You Don't Have to Be in Crisis

A lot of people assume there is a threshold — that things have to get bad enough before it is worth mentioning to a doctor. There is no such threshold, and waiting for one tends to make the eventual conversation harder rather than easier.

If something has been weighing on you for a while, a GP appointment is a reasonable place to start.

What a mental health treatment plan is

It is a plan you and your GP put together. It sets out what is going on, what you would like to be different, and what support might help. It is not a diagnosis handed down to you, and it is not a form you sign and never see again.

The practical part is that having one gives you access to Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist or other mental health professional under the Australian Government's Better Access initiative.

How the sessions work

Under Better Access you can access up to 10 individual sessions and up to 10 group sessions in a calendar year.

They do not all come at once. Your GP refers you for an initial course of up to six sessions. After those, you go back to your GP for a review — a conversation about whether it is helping and what should happen next — and further sessions can be arranged from there, up to the annual limit.

The review is not a hurdle. It exists because six sessions in, you will know things about whether the fit is right that neither of you could have known at the start.

What to expect from the appointment

You do not need to arrive with the right words, a tidy summary, or a diagnosis in mind. "I haven't been myself for a while" is enough to start with.

It helps to book a longer appointment if you can, and to say when booking that it is what you would like to discuss — not because anyone will be surprised, but because it means there is time.

Medicare subsidises these sessions rather than covering them entirely, so it is worth asking any psychologist you are referred to about their fees before your first appointment.

If you need someone right now

A GP appointment is not the right pathway in a crisis. These services are available at any hour.

Lifeline — 13 11 14

13YARN — 13 92 76, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636

In an emergency, call 000.

---

Sources: Services Australia, Mental health care and Medicare; Australian Government Department of Health, Better Access initiative.